The Shadow Rush AKA Legend of John Bucksworth
by TheCrazyPerson44
Summary: In a saloon somewhere in Texas, the number one customer begins telling a story. His three friends don't believe him at first. The tale is of a man who engages in a duel to the death every night...against the same opponent? Said man is a rancher about to lose his ranch due to events seemingly beyond his control. Will John's dream of gold for him and his wife come true? In-progress
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A Myth or Reality

Ghost of Rod Serling introducing the show: Enter the Coltbit Cantina, a place full of wild happenings and even wilder stories. But one of those wild stories just might have a salty grain of truth to it. Mr. John Bucksworth, real or legend? The folks pondering such a question are about to enter the place we call the Twilight Zone.

It was a typical day at the ColtBit Cantina. The customers were embroiled in card games and wild conversations, the saloon girls were dancing, the drinks  
were sliding down the desks to thirsty regular patrons and gold prospectors. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Jack Cobalt, the saloon's best and most famous customer was seated at a table with three of his best friends, Frank Smith, Bill Welmington, and Jim Tuckerfort. Jack was a middle aged man with the largest horseshoe mustache of any ruffian this side of anywhere. He had snow-white hair and unequivocally piercing blue eyes.  
He was known for his peculiar and fantastic tales of adventure and intrigue. Bill was a young prospector always trying  
to get as many minerals and deposits of silver and gold, or anything he could get his hands on. He always wanted to believe that Jack's stories were true, as he believed himself to be something of a legend, always in search of danger and mystery. Frank was a skeptical bearded old man who didn't believe Jack's stories at was also a famous poker player. Jim Tuckerfort was silent most of the time, and sported a handlebar mustache and two dull glassy gray eyes. He owned a train station, or so he told people. Jack was in the middle of one of his wild tales, when the waitress came over to the table, offering drinks. She was blonde, perky, possessed beautiful invigorating green eyes, and wore a blue bonnet and matching dress.  
"Swirling tornado for ya'll?" asked Sally.  
"No thanks, we've got a live one" replied Frank. Sally, the waitress, being a vivacious type began giggling up a storm, as she retreated to the kitchen.  
Meanwhile, Jack continued his story. It was a story about a man who claimed to face off in a gun duel with the same man every day, killing him daily in an endless loop.  
"The wife, now she doesn't believe him," said Jack, as he was in the middle of telling a story. "She been thinkin' he made the whole thing up as a cover story  
to prevent her from finding out about a rendevouz with a soiled dove from the saloon nearbye" he added. Frank chimed in, laughing.  
"It'd be aces and eights for me if I told a story like that to anyone" said Frank. Jack got cross with Frank suddenly, and began pointing his index finger at him.  
"I told you, no more wiseass comments from you. I'm tellin ya right now, John Bucksworth could make poker players fold a hell of a lot  
more than their cards just by looking at em. You think I'm making this up go check the papers for yourself" said Jack, pointing at a wooden newspaper holder  
near the double doors. Jim, Bill, and Frank all glanced at each other briefly, pondering Jack's statement.  
"Jack, what I've got here for ya'll is a proposition. I go over there and check the papers and see if your story's in it. If the story ain't in those papers,  
I'll pour beer on all of yaz and head for home. If the story is in those papers, I reckon I'll lease you my ranch for a hefty but reasonable monthly price.  
What do you say?" asked Frank.  
"Frank, I would not enter into a deal like that if my life depended on it" said Jack.  
"Ya'll stay neighborly with each other now," said Sally as she walked by carrying a tray. Frank thought over Sally's words.  
"Nah, you're right Jack. It was just a joke. Now let me see this here poodle poop," said Frank, getting up from his seat and steadily walking on over to the newspapers. The three men watched as Frank took out a paper and began chuckling amongst themselves, each expecting an impending beer bath. But Frank could not stop staring at the paper. He wouldn't come back to the table. He just kept staring.  
"Guess the cattle finally came back home," said Jack.  
"What do you mean?" asked Bill.  
"I think he means he's having a moment" said Jim. Sally came over.  
"Your friend alright? I can always hustle up a doctor for ya'll if ya need one" said Sally, her left hand on her hip, leaning against a keg.  
"Frank? He's a little old for that kind of stuff" replied Bill.  
"No, don't bother with a doctor. I was tellin' him what he dun thought was a tall tale, and he just found out it was anything but that" said Jack.  
"The day one of your stories turns out true is the day I quit my job and marry ya" said Sally, winking at Jack.  
"Better buy a weddin' dress, darlin" said Jack.

Later...

Frank came back to the table, beer glass in hand. He took one hearty swig down his gullet. But he took another huge sip and then began letting the beer drip out of his mouth like a leaking faucet. He then began pouring beer all over himself.  
"Hooo-wee. It's good to be alive. So good to be alive" said Frank in a high pitched troubling almost insane tone.  
Frank then tossed the newspapers on the table violently, took out his pistol, spun it in  
the air and then safely put it back in his holster.  
"HOOOOOO-weeee! Good to be alive" Frank said again, as he marched out the double doors.  
"The story...it was actually true" said Bill.  
"I own a railway station," said Jim. "Heh-ha-heh" he added. Then Jim left the building, laughing. But Bill, being of an extremely curious mind, stayed.

"There was one key-detail I left out of the story, son" said Jack.  
"What's that?" asked Bill.  
"This is somethin' I usually keep between me and Sally, cuz you know how popular I am in this joint, I don't want the word to get out, but I knew the man" said Jack.  
"What?" asked Bill.  
"Yeah you heard me, young man. I knew him. He wasn't exactly the kind of man you'd ever wanna meet in a dark alley let's put it that way" replied Jack.  
"What makes you think you can trust Sally?" asked Bill.  
"Oh, I can trust her, believe me. Believe you me I can trust Sally, she's as close to me as beer in a barrel" replied Jack.  
"So then, who was this John guy in the papers? Is he still alive?" asked Bill.  
"Oh, some say he is, but he's not. It's an American legend that resurfaces time and time again. For being a tough guy he was actually a bit of a jokester, a tall tale teller, you could sit down and have a beer with him and never guess he was the kind of person he was, but he was" said Jack.  
"His face is kind of blurred out," said Bill. "Why do you suppose that is?"  
"Hell if I know," said Jack, leaning back and taking a puff from a chocolate cigar. "I do know one thing, it's good that he's gone, I bet he's happier now" he added.

"He looks a tiny bit like you Jack, if I squint mah god durn eyes hard enough" said Bill.  
Jack gave Bill a very keen firm look in the eyes, and said "You know full well what I mean don't ya son? He's happier now"

Sally walked by and gave Bill a sharp and sly look "Ya know, I thought Jack was dog gurn plumb crazy a long time ago, but he came through for me so many times" she said. She continued, "No one can ever tell me there ain't no dog gum gold in Texas, there was at one time, ya'll didn't hear about it much"

Later...

Jack and Bill left the saloon. It was night, the town was quiet.  
"So, you think you know all there is to know about John Bucksworth?" asked Jack.  
"Yeah, I-I-I think so. I think so, I think I know all I need to know, I don't need to know more" said Bill.  
"Good, you don't want to know more. He's a happier man now, as I said before" said Jack.  
"Yeah, I suppose so" said Bill.  
"What's that? You suppose so? That isn't my kind of language boy. Now you've gotta hear the full story" said Jack.

"The full story?" asked Bill.

"Yes, John was a rancher, his ranch was going to be taken by the government to build a railway station" explained Jack.

He began telling a tale, in the middle of the ghost town.

It all began with a rancher and his wife. The rancher's name was John Bucksworth, his wife Bonnie Bucksworth. John was a young man with black hair and blue eyes,  
his wife was blonde with green eyes. She usually wore a bonnet and a blue dress. One day, Bonnie was churning butter, while John was out tending to the animals.  
John was feeding his horse Swift Pilfer some oats and carrots.  
"Here ya go Swifty, good girl" said John. When Bonnie had finished, she approached her husband.  
"What do you say we both give Swift Pilfer a run?" asked Bonnie.  
"Yeah, why not? Let's do that" said John, putting his arm around his wife. "Course I gotta do up the saddle and tie the cinch"

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

John and Bonnie reached Gallop's End Gultch. There was a huge pile of rocks there, and not much else. The rocks themselves were the size of mammoths, and  
were quite a spectacle to look at. Some said they guarded an old mine entrane. But beyond that? Nothing.

"Someone died here a long time ago trying to save his fellow miners by holding up the timber," said John.

"Says here his name was Big Bad Rohn!" said Bonnie.

"Yeah, somethin' like that" replied John.

"I do declare, I'm impressed John. Your gunslingin' power is so durn impressive the ol feller is too scared to show up" said Bonnie.

"You really mean that, right?" said John.

"I do, John. I believe you!" said Bonnie.

"Good," replied John, happily embracing his wife. Suddenly, the two of them heard something. They saw a shadowy cowboy figure atop the large overbearing rocks.  
He could be seen lifting up a boulder, about to toss it on John and Bonnie.

"LOOK OUT!" shrieked Bonnie. John pulled Bonnie away as swiftly as possible. The shadowy figure then seemingly vanished after tossing a rock at them.  
"Hoo. That must have been him! I'm going up there. Believe me, that wasn't some crazy woman, you believe me right?" said John. Bonnie nodded. John climbed up the rocks, and the shadowy man appeared again, this time swinging a gun from his holster.  
"Who are you? Why won't you ever tell me who you are and why you never die?" asked John.  
"It's not important who I am and it's not important why I never die, I want your lady, that ain't now lie" said the shadowy cowboy.  
They marched ten paces and then drew their guns. As usual, John was quicker on the draw than the shadow man and he once again killed him. Yet this time, the rock began to glow. John took a giant leap off of it, and viewed  
the amazing sight with his wife. Suddenly the rock grew arms and legs and began speaking.  
"The fellow finally came to terms with his fate," said the rock creature.  
"Well that makes me mighty proud of my husband for helping him do so" said Bonnie.

"Some souls dwell within rocks, but come out at times in order to train others for their future" said the rock creature. John took his wife into a corner nearbye.

"Now, Bonnie, Bonnie dear, rocks don't just get up and talk, why aren't you more surprised by this? Did we have too much Southern comfort?" asked John.  
"No, Johnny, I'm Bonnie and I believe rocks watch over us, always have and always will" said Bonnie.  
"Okay well you hold tight and don't lose your cool. I'm gonna try to reason with him" said John. But when John went up to the rock man, he had tunneled down  
a deep hole in the ground in less than a few minutes. He then tossed John in like he was a sack of old potatoes and he landed in what seemed like an abandoned mine. But it was anything but abandoned. To John's shock there were many miners at work. John joined them, but said nothing. His wife, wondering where he was, attempted to enter the mine, but the entry was blocked by a very large tree that had fell in front of it. The ceiling of the underground lair began to crack and the miners were in a panic. But John carried a lantern and guided the miners to the exit, blocked by a tree. John, using all his strength, pushed the tree away and picked  
it up to the amazement of his wife, and after tossing the tree away, the miners cheered.  
"Who are you fellers?" asked Bonnie.  
"We're dwarves. We were mining gems for Rohn" explained a small dwarf.  
"Who's Rohn?" asked John.  
"Him!" replied the dwarf pointing to the same shadowy figure again. The rock creature had fallen over to his side, and looked as though he had been killed.  
"Won't be long now and some local important folks are gonna show up and convert your land to a railway station. There ain't nuttin' you can do about it either"  
said the shadow man. John snickered and sneered.  
"Tell that to the screaming sinners in Hell" said John, pulling out his gun and shooting the shadowy figure for the upteenth time. The rock creature came back  
to life. John then saw a stagecoach carrying some government men in it. They were about to pull up to aquire John's land when they saw the rock creature and swiftly  
went away. The rock creature then curled up and seemingly died, but left a note.

"You're one hell of a man, John. Best get out of here"

The rock then grew glowing yellow eyes and large feet and began chasing John and his wife Bonnie. They got on their horse and headed far far away from the rock  
man, finally outdoing his speed, leaving him in the dust. They ended up in a faraway town. John and Bonnie decided to stay in Coltbit City and live out the rest  
of their years there. They weren't sure if this event was something they'd tell their grandkids but they did tell some of the townsfolk, not expecting to be  
believed. And for the most part, they were not. To avoid being made fun of, they faked their deaths, changed their names and took up new jobs at the edge of town.

"And that's the story," said Jack, AKA John. "The charming hostess of this joint who you met? She's already my wife, she's Bonnie. Yes, I'm Johnny"  
"Why can't I tell anyone?" asked Bill.  
"Because Jim is still in the room, and that's not his real name!" said John. Jim, who was sitting a few tables away began turning into a large shadow man, then John coldly shot him dead at point-blank range. He then blew steam off of his pistol. Bill could not believe his eyes.

"Some legends are best left under the rocks" said John. Nuggets of gold began falling from nowhere onto the table. His wife came back into the room, shocked.

"You struck gold, but how?" asked Bonnie AKA Sally.

"Not telling, but let's just say I passed a rigorous test!" replied John.

"Like it says in the good book: He that overcometh shall inherit all things" said Bill.

THE END, BUT A SEQUEL MIGHT BE MADE


End file.
